Black Country History Web Site

Black Country History is a searchable website which allows users to find information about documents, maps, photographs, art works, objects and more held by archives and museums services within the Black Country.
The eight partners involved in this website are:
Dudley Archives and Local History Service
Dudley Museums Service
Sandwell Community History and Archives Service
Sandwell Museums Service
Walsall Local History Centre
Walsall Museums Service
Wolverhampton Archives and Local Studies
Wolverhampton Arts and Museums Service

Meeting of Esau and Jacob

Summary: Oil painting showing the biblical scene of Jacob making peace with his twin brother Esau. A crowd of people watches. There are also sheep, cattle, horses and camels.

Description: This lively oil sketch illustrates the biblical story of Jacob making peace with his twin brother, Esau, many years after he had robbed Esau of his birthright. Rubens was the most famous Flemish artist of the 17th century. He received a first-class classical education before studying art in Italy and Spain. Not only was he an internationally successful artist but he also worked as a diplomat, negotiating a peace treaty between the kings of England and Spain. Rubens usually painted large canvases and presented dramatic episodes through ample figures in dynamic poses, sumptuous colour and brilliant lighting. This piece was probably a preparatory study for a larger painting, which is now in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich. However, despite its small scale, this sketch still conveys the great themes of peace, harmony, abundance, and love which abound in Rubens' work.

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